Examining these questions through sometimes troubling cases with compassion and acumen, Minow acknowledges that there … I think that the comparison with other countries is very striking. But the chapters lacked coherent organization. I worry about that discretion. And to actually have the ability to forgive is to have enough privilege that you have some power, even if everything else in your life is limited. On the one hand, there were those who saw this — I think rightly — as an incredible act of grace and forgiveness. After the war, Emmanuel’s mother and grandmother forgave him. Here's an instance when that power to let go of punishment should not be used.”Martha Minow: I think that to seriously talk about forgiveness is to understand that we're implicated in each other's lives, and that each of us is part of concentric circles of causation. And I think that there are many circumstances where “What do we do about it?” starts with, “Who's the ‘we’?” And why are there so many immigrants here, and why are they being punished, in part, because some in the ‘80s, many of them were induced to come here to work in the fields? We know the standard used in courts for children is the best interest of the child. Who should be forgiven? For example, there are 36 states that now have apology laws, so that if someone in the medical profession — for example, after surgery that didn't work out — apologizes, they don't actually then fear the introduction of that sentence into a civil action. Like, the history of the juvenile defense system is, you know, quite clearly rehabilitative in nature, supposedly. Every major civilization has had a reset button. We can't just wave a magic wand and be a different culture and be a different society, but I do think that there are many, many people in this country who think there's something off the rails.
Forgiveness is a human resource for letting go even of justified resentment. This is the group that, really, it's not a good use of our resources. How are they related to each other? But in able to be able to order services, it's a problem. What sorts of transgressions are completely unforgivable?Martha Minow: Well, that wasn't just his worst moment.And that is very much the idea in bankruptcy. And at the same time, isn't there something wrong with this picture? This book had all the ingredients of a fascinating read. But any use of the police power of the state to promote interpersonal forgiveness or apologies is a sham at best, and is oppressive at worst. And yes, I think that that's a reflection of the same sentiments of resentment that, you know, is the reason that I wrote the book. That seems wrong to me. We don't have a fresh start. I don't know. We can't even have a conversation about reparations in this country.
Let's develop some norms. Who ends up being in a situation where it looks better to participate in crime, as opposed to other kinds of activities? I would like that to come back.Martha Minow: The legal system is disciplining difference. I'm dealing right now, as many people are, with the issue of microaggressions. How could she have mistaken someone else's house for hers?
But not in law. What if something like bankruptcy—a fresh start for debtors—were available to people convicted of crimes? There has to be some way in which we can look at the tools inside of law and say, you know, this is time for a reset.Martha Minow: Mercy is a concept that is about the person who has power can decide not to use it.